The crucial role of third-party candidates in the 2016 presidential race

Following the Bush-Gore 2000 contest, there was a lot of commentary on the alleged spoiler role of Ralph Nader and his Green Party in Florida, won by George W. Bush with 537 votes. In fact, the certified vote tally shows that ALL of the eight third-parties obtained more than 537 votes. Data from the 2016 race are also suggestive.

Here follows a table with data for the presidential candidates of the major parties and minor parties that appeared on the ballot in the 2000 general election. Following the table are data from the 2016 presidential election.

Presidential candidate Vote total % Party

and running mate

George Walker Bush–

Richard Bruce Cheney 2,912,790 48.847% Republican

Albert Arnold Gore Jr.–

Joseph Isadore Lieberman 2,912,253 48.838% Democratic

Ralph Nader–

Winona LaDuke 97,488 1.635% Green

Patrick J. Buchanan–

Ezola B. Foster 17,484 0.293% Reform

Harry Browne–

Art Olivier 16,415 0.275% Libertarian

John Hagelin–

Nat Goldhaber 2,281 0.038% Natural Law

Monica Moorehead–

Gloria La Riva 1,804 0.030% Workers World

Howard Phillips–

Curtis Frazier 1,371 0.023% Constitution

David McReynolds–

Mary Cal Hollis 622 0.010% Socialist

James Harris–

Margaret Trowe 562 0.009% Socialist Workers

Write-ins 36 0.000%

Total 5,963,110

This prompts the question: In what states in the 2016 election was the margin by Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, or Clinton over Trump, eclipsed by the votes for third parties?